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Fatal accidents in Nordic workplaces nearly exclusively involve men

Dato:
Apr 07, 2011
|Text: Marie Preisler

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Men in the Nordic region are involved in fatal accidents at work far more often than women. 1,157 men died in work accidents between 2003 and 2008, compared to only 85 women.

In Denmark, Sweden and Finland 92
percent of fatalities are men, while figures for Norway and Iceland are
96 and 100 percent respectively.

"These figures highlight a clear discrepancy when it comes to the
Nordic gender equality debate. There is not enough focus on safety in
the work place, even when it clearly means major losses for the men,"
writes a group of researchers who have been looking at all work-related
deaths in the Nordic region over a five year period.

The report 'Fatal Occupational Accidents in the Nordic Countries
2003 – 2008' is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It shows
there are between 1.51 and 2.49 fatal accidents at work per 100,000
workers each year in the Nordic region.

Iceland tops the statistic. The country's large fisheries industry
is not the main reason for this - the chances of work-related death is
greatest within the building industry.

128 preventable deaths in Denmark

Denmark comes second with 2.0 work-related deaths each year per
100,000 workers. The number for Norway is 1.81, Finland has 1.75, and
Sweden is bottom of the statistics with 1.51 fatal accidents at work
per 100,000 workers. If Denmark applied the same workplace safety rules
as Sweden, 128 deaths could have been avoided, the researchers say.

Most fatal accidents happen in agriculture, forestry and fisheries,
followed by the building industry and transport sector. The common
denominator for all these is that most workers are men.

Work vehicles represent the material most often involved in fatal
accidents, which typically happen by falling, loss of control and
breaking material.

The report recommends closer cooperation between the Nordic
countries to make information about accidents at work easier to
compare, especially when it comes to investigations and the registering
of work-related accidents. This would also make it easier to identify
ways of preventing further accidents, the report concludes.